Shadowrun: Preview of 5th Edition Up

So as some of you will know by now there is a new 5th edition of Shadowrun coming out later this year. And as some may also know I'm quite a Shadowrun fan. That being said I haven't been following the development of this edition too closely so far as I've been trying to catch up on reading of the 4th edition metaplot books so I can read Storm Front.

Anyway Catalyst have just released the first proper preview of the game, the first 12 pages (minus contents page unfortunately,) so head over to DriveThruRPG and pick it up. It's free, obviously.

Creepiness in Delta Green

Okay not one of my writing here, but more of a shoutout to Dennis Detwiller's writing. At the beginning of the year he posted a short article to his blog (see link on the right hand side) about how to be creepy in Delta Green, and he recently reposted it on Google+. So here's a link to the article. Read it and absorb it, Detwiller is one of the masters.

Steve Jackson Games: Report to the Stakeholders

So Steve Jackson Games has posted this year's Stakeholder's Report. As every Steve is very open about what is going on in the company, what the challenges and successes are and financials. Many of us wish more gaming companies would do things like this (Mongoose does to a more limited extent) as it helps gauge  what is actually going on in the industry instead of the rumour and doom mongering that we all seem fond of.

So anyway, even though RPGs aren't their top line items any longer it's still good to read through even if a bit Munchkin focused. Read it here.

New Years Resolution Updates

So as some of you may remember I made some resolutions back in January to get me back into roleplaying again after too long a drought. Attend or run one game in each of January and February and two games in March. So it's three months into the year, how am I doing?

Not well. I haven't attended a single roleplaying session this year. Tried to run but never got around to actually scheduling and looking for players beyond some initial exploration.

So the question is why? Why didn't I meet any of my goals? Answer of course is me. Apathy? Procrastination? Laziness? Fear? Probably all four. The worst two offenders are actually procrastination and fear.

Procrastination because I keep saying "I'll do it after I get X out of the way" or "Y is happening soon so I can't do it until after that." A dangerous thing to do, and I've done it for five years now.

Fear because I don't actually have a group. Part of me doesn't want to try running my first game in six years with a group of strangers and making a fool out of myself. Assuming I can get a group in the first place.

Five and a half years ago I moved from England to Canada and lost my group there. I've never been able to get into the right circles over here to get a group together so everything conspires (in my mind) to stop me running a game.

I need to get off my ass and run something, even if I do make a fool of myself. I have an evening course that finishes next week, and then I'm away on vacation for a week (and the in-laws are now over,) so I can try something at the end of the month or May (see how procrastination easily sneaks up on you?)

Still, I hereby make the promise in front of the internet ( :) )that by the end of May I'll have run at least one session.

Promise this time.